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What sources can I look at that reference this frequent flip-flops in advice by many scientists, Doc?

Did you take that Hexaco test, @Jon?

I agree, it depends on the subject, but I also think it depends on several other factors, including one's own predisposition/opennes to be influenced. I don't mean manipulated - I mean open to the possibility that a different point of view is worthy of consideration.

There's a very entertaining TED video that centres on this concept:

@Jon don't get me wrong. I am all for the free model supported by advertising. I am making a different point here: informed consent. Today most companies bury the informed consent so deep that people don't have a clue about what they are signing up to. People should be free to provide their own...

The extreme sports and insurance was just an example. Sure, ethically speaking you give your insurer all the relevant details, otherwise you may be liable of insurance fraud. But that is a different conversation. What I'm referring to here is that, right now, in the majority of cases you as the...

The angle of the thread for me is more about Solipsism, as Doc described. I have seen a thread where you guys were discussing subjectivity, I think it's slightly different.

We don't know the answer of course, but there's a concept called the Great Filter that deals with a similar question. It deals with the subject of why alien life would spell catastrophe for us. There's also a YT video on this subject (9 mins duration)

This one looks pretty cool Heathrow Airport brings in robots to fight coronavirus - BBC News

Except that - in a virtual reality - Occam's Razor, Einstein's Photoelectric Effect, Pasteur's polarization and everything else would simply be a product of that universe. In other words, every single instance of a virtual reality is completely consistent with the virtual reality itself, and any...

What do you make of Trump's style, Doc?

In an increasingly digital and "big data-driven" world there are those among us, though, who are privacy conscious. I, for example, happen to be one of them. I don't like nor do I subscribe to the ever-encroaching role that some social media have on our lives. Sites like Facebook, for example...

The problem of overchoice, which also probably dilutes quality. If we had 5 quality channels it'd be easy to pick what interests us most. But 300+ channels? We are going to waste so much time just browsing. Same goes for the internet - only the choices now number in the millions. So, all...

Thanks Doc, glad to be here!

Different ways to answer this one, but if we lived in a computer simulation we would not know what reality looks like. This is a Twilight Zone episode from the 80s, called Dreams for sale (9 mins duration). The protagonist believes she is having a picnic with her family until something goes...

Occasionally, when I am dreaming, I dream that I am waking up, but I am actually still asleep. I was in a dream within a dream. If dreams within dreams are possible, how can we be sure that this form of reality is, for lack of a better word, real? Why can't this be just another, longer, dream...

Ah - this sounds like something that could spur a few discussions in the Philosophy section. :)

I have been engaged in a politics debate with Jon for a few days and, as part of that, I thought I'd share a few cognitive biases that everyone should be aware of. The complete list is on Wikipedia and it numbers in the hundreds. I think it is important to be aware of these biases because many...

Thanks Jon, just to confirm, are Conversations private?